PIC based PLC

Muhammad Uzair Bilal

Waqas Maqsud

Presentation for: Center for Excellence of Industrial Automation

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCES

NUST - PAKISTAN
 Agenda
In this presentation we will mainly cover
• What are PLCs?
• Why do we need PLCs?
• PIC vs. PLCs
• Ladder logic
• PIC based PLCs
• Ladder logic for PIC
What are PLCs?
 PLCs
A programmable logic controller (PLC)
or programmable controller is a digital
computer used for automation and
electromechanical processes
(Wikipedia)
A siemens simatic s7-416-3
 Applications of PLCs
PLCs are mostly used in industries for
• control of machinery on factory assembly lines
• amusement rides
• lighting fixtures
• Traffic Signal operations
• Very high precision systems such as flight
controls
NIST Industrial Control Security Test bed
An application of PLC based system
 PIC vs. Other Controllers
PLCs are typically used when
• cost of developing and maintaining the
automation system is high relative to the total
cost of the automation
• changes to the system would be expected
during its operational life
• Very complex process control, such as used in
the chemical industry
 PIC vs. other controllers contd.
A microcontroller-based design would be
appropriate where hundreds or thousands of
units will be produced and so the
development cost (design of power supplies,
input/output hardware and necessary testing
and certification) can be spread over many
sales and the design needs not to be altered.
Microcontroller based PLCs.
 Microcontroller Based PLC

Aim: To develop a PLC system that uses a

microcontroller as its processor. And to use
Ladder logic for Microcontrollers
 PIC vs PLCs
PIC is n industrial grade computer.
We can supply a PLC with power
(usually 80-240VAC) and it will accept
inputs, and it has outputs, relay
while we need some electronics to
be built around a PIC to work like
PLCs.
PLC with PIC 16F648A
Microcontroller
Hardware with PIC16F648A

Main board

I/O extension board

Main sections of the main board are :
Power
 Programming
 CPU
 Inputs and Outputs.

 Power section accepts 12V AC input and produces as outputs 12V

DC to be used as the operating voltage of relays, and 5 V DC to be
used for ICs, inputs.
 Programming the PIC16F648A in circuit, it is necessary to use a
PIC programmer hardware and software with ICSP (In Circuit
Serial Programming) capability.
 CPU section consists of the PIC16F648A microcontroller. Although it
can run up to 20MHz, in this PLC it is fixed to run at 4MHz with its
internal oscillator. This frequency is fixed because time-delays are
calculated based on this speed.
Programming PIC
 When programming PIC16F648A, RA5 should be connected to 4PDT switch. RB0,
RB6 and RB7 pins are all reserved to be used for an 8-bit parallel to serial converter
register 74HC/LS165. Through these three pins and with added 74HC/LS165
registers we can describe as many inputs as we wish. RB0, RB6, and RB7 are the
“data in”, the “clock in” and the “shift/load” pins, respectively.

 Similarly, RB3, RB4 and RB5 pins are all reserved to be used for 8-bit serial to
parallel converter register/driver TPIC6B595. Through these three pins and with
added TPIC6B595 registers we can describe as many outputs as we wish. RB3, RB4
and RB5 are the “clock out”, the “data out” and the “latch out” pins, respectively.
The remaining unused pins of the PIC16F648A are connected to the “future
extension connector”.

• The inputs section introduces 8 discrete inputs for the UZAM_PLC, called I0.0, I0.1,
..., I0.7. Each input can accept 5V DC or 24V DC signals. These external input signals
are isolated from the other parts of the hardware by using NPN type opto-couplers
(e.g. 4N25).
 In the beginning of each PLC scan cycle (get inputs) 74HC/LS165 is loaded
(RB7 (shift/load) = 0) with the level of 8 inputs and then this data is serially
clocked in (when RB7 = 1; through RB0 “data in” and RB6 “clock in” pins). If
there is no I/O extension board used, then 8 clock in signals are enough to
get the 8 input signals. For each I/O extension board, 8 more clock in signals
are necessary.